Laminating machines (or laminators) are used to apply a laminate film to a sheet material, such as paper. The film coats the upper and/or lower surfaces of the sheet material, and, thus, protects the sheet material by shielding the sheet material from external elements. Some laminators use discrete pre-cut films of a particular size to laminate a sheet material. Alternately, the film used in other laminators is supplied on a roll that is unwound as the film is fed into the laminator and cut to the appropriate size after the sheet has been laminated. With these roll-type laminators, a significant amount of film may be supplied before the user needs to reload the film. Typically, two rolls are utilized by the laminator to provide an upper film and a lower film for disposal on an upper surface and lower surface of the sheet material, respectively. In this way, the sheet material is completely enclosed and protected by the films.
The laminate film typically comprises a substrate and an adhesive layer, which is disposed on one side of the substrate. The adhesive may be a pressure sensitive adhesive or a thermal adhesive. In the case of pressure sensitive adhesives, the sheet material and film are fed into the laminator and a compression force is applied to the sheet material and film combination to activate the adhesive and adhere the film to the sheet material. Usually, this force is applied by a roller or similar suitable structure. In the case of films having a thermal adhesive, heat is applied to the film to activate the adhesive and adhere the film to the sheet material. Often, the heat is supplied through a heating roller that may also apply a compression force on the film and sheet material combination.
Considering that the adhesive is disposed on only one side of the film, it is essential that the film be loaded correctly into the laminator, i.e., such that as the film is fed into the laminator, the adhesive is disposed between the substrate and the sheet material. If the film is loaded incorrectly, the adhesive will not be disposed adjacent to the sheet material, and, thus, the film will not adhere to the sheet material. Furthermore, loading the film incorrectly may cause significant damage to the interior of the machine because the adhesive may adhere to components such as the roller. Such damage may necessitate costly and/or time consuming repairs and cleaning of the laminator.
In current laminators, it is difficult for users to determine how the film should be loaded because the rolls of film may physically be loaded in either direction, the machines lack adequate instruction to assist the user, or the user fails to follow provided instructions for loading the film. Thus, it is common for users to incorrectly load the rolls of film and damage the laminator. Furthermore, when using laminators having films to laminate both the upper surface and the lower surface of a sheet material, it can be difficult to mount the upper roll and the lower roll such that they are properly aligned with the sheet material and each other.